Objective
- to reflect a sensible and rational site selection process.
- place 64 offshore sites in Great Lakes
- parameters - wind speed, development complexity, social and environmental factors and presence of infrastructure to establish the most favourable sites
- 9 sites in Lake Ontario (not evaluated -seabed properties and icing conditions, visual impact, social acceptability and economic viability)
- Social Acceptability - concerns on personal enjoyment and recreation (viewscapes, aesthetic issues and noise) property values and avifauna (the bird life of a district)
- no offshore project in the world faces comparable ice conditions to those of the Great Lakes re: harsh winters, enclosed areas (lakes) with weak currents.
- all factors; include a geotechnical survey (flora, fauna and fish surveys, a detailed noise impact assessment, a detailed wind resource study)
- distances 1-3 km. will appear prominent on the landscape (less favourable)
Costs
- offshore costs - 30-70% more than onshore wind farms (hardware and software)
- O & M costs 2.3 to 3.1 cents per KWH offshore vs. 1.8 to 2 cents per KWH onshore
- 2-3 ½ million dollars per meg. Watt plus learning curve, turbine supply, engineering experience
- civil works and interconnection approx. 10 times more costs than onshore
- additional protection against a fresh water or saline environment - thus turbines design must be more robust, lower supply demand than of offshore turbines add premium costs, ice formation require heavier foundation designs
- 4 million dollars per MW for hardware, plus maintenance significantly more costly and time consuming thus may trigger significant revenue losses.
- offshore experience, less available levels, longer wait times for spare parts, crew and equipment, inclement weather and longer repair times due to the environment.
- "Project owners and manufactures can be reluctant to share their experience."
Ecological reasons not to locate wind farm at Scarborough Bluffs
Environmental Constraints
- areas of natural interest (Scarborough Bluffs)
- environmentally sensitive areas (Fisheries Dept.)
- national parks
- natural wildlife areas
- national heritage values areas
- provincial parks (conservation reserves)
- significant ecological areas
- Oak Ridge Moraine
- Niagara Escarpment
Ecological Concerns
- lake bed disturbances
- aquatic life effects (fish spawning)
- zebra muscle habitats
- migratory bird path
- butterflies
- bats
- lesser species
- 12,000 year geological site with flourishing wildlife habitats
- environmental degradation will impact the natural quality of life for all species
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